Chihulys Shattering Perceptions

Enter the foyer of Stephen Goldman's home in Winter Park, look up -- and tremble! A one-ton cascade of sword-sharp glass dangles just a few feet above your head.

"I call it the chandelier of Damocles," says Goldman. "Imagine if it fell."

Ouch!

The chandelier is composed of 500 separate pieces of curlicue green glass. It was designed for the Goldman foyer by Seattle artist Dale Chihuly.

Dozens of Chihuly's creations, including a chandelier similar to Goldman's, are the subject of the exhibition, "Chihuly Across Florida: Masterworks in Glass," which opens Sunday at the Orlando Museum of Art and also at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. The two-city exhibition, a first for Chihuly, will run through May 30.

Goldman is one of several art-glass collectors in Central Florida who have fallen under Chihuly's spell -- and who will be among the first in line to view the installation in both cities.

Another collector is Alan Ginsburg, who also lives in Winter Park. "Of course, I'll be there. You can never get enough Chihuly," he says.

Although Ginsburg has visited the Chihuly studios in Seattle and seen several exhibitions of his work, he is especially excited about the Florida shows. "I assume I will never have seen such a huge and varied collection. I will be like a kid let loose in a wonderful candy store," he says.

Thirty years ago, glass was considered a craft, not true art, says Goldman, a high-tech entrepreneur and arts patron. "Now, thanks largely to Chihuly, it's accepted as a valid form of fine art."

A second Chihuly installation in his home, mounted on a soaring wall of glass, comprises more than 90 "Persians" -- scalloped, free-form discs in shades of blue, green and bronze, which reflect the sky, trees and canal outside.

"The more you look at it, the more you see. It keeps changing, depending on the angles, the lighting. Some people say glass has a fourth dimension because its appearance is so dependent on its environment," says Goldman.

He and his wife, Susan, collect glass by contemporary European and American artists, including Chihuly, whom they've met on several occasions. Six of his works, including a cobalt-blue wall sconce and a multicolored Seaform sculpture, light up the living room of their downtown condominium.

They'll attend the Orlando exhibition, but doubt they'll purchase more Chihuly glass any time soon.

"Where would we put it? We'd be stacking it up like dishes," says Bierman.

Chihuly glass "is a happy thing; it makes you smile," says Ginsburg, who has a 1,200-pound blue chandelier in his living room and a collection of red-orange Persians mounted on his dining-room wall.

"Sometimes, I just sit and look at them. They're like a kaleidoscope, changing every minute as the light changes," he says.

Ginsburg, owner of CED Construction in Orlando, is the co-developer of Millenia Gallery, a showcase for museum-quality modern art that opens near the Mall at Millenia on Monday. About 50 percent of the gallery will be dedicated to glass artists, including Chihuly.

The gallery's opening was timed to coincide with "Chihuly Across Florida."

"We're very fortunate to have the exhibition," says Ginsburg. "Chihuly has taken glass to the next level. He's one of the more expressive and talented artists of our time."